Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 02/10/2024 06:25 am by Marc
New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.